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Consumers are increasingly seeking food and drinks that boost overall health and wellbeing. Better consumer access to health and nutrition information paired with heightened concern for health throughout the global Covid-19 pandemic is driving an increased need for functional products that tap into different need states. Manufacturers are also driving this change, with the addition of functional benefits to entice consumers who are taking a more holistic approach to health.

Against this backdrop and with the ever-expanding global wellness economy being worth an estimated $5.6 trillion (of which $1 trillion is healthy eating, nutrition and weight loss), there is a clear opportunity for food and beverage manufacturers to continue to innovate. However, with competition fierce, winning consumers over can be a challenge and flavour innovation provides a great opportunity for functional products to stand out.

What consumers really want

To help food and beverage manufacturers to understand flavour preferences for functional products, Synergy Flavours has analysed a range of data sources including: Innova Market Insights (consumer data, launch data); FMCG Gurus (consumer survey data); and SEMRush & Google Trends, to find out what people are searching online for. Synergy also conducted its own consumer research via Vypr, surveying 5,500 respondents to find out about their health priorities and flavour expectations.

This work focused on nine 'need states': energy, gut health, immunity, muscle building, brain health, skin health, hydration, female nutrition and healthy ageing.

Immunity and gut health stand out

The research found that consumers are most interested in products that promote immunity and gut health. In fact, gut health was the most sought-after need state in Synergy’s consumer survey, with 39% of respondents showing interest​ in it. It’s also the fastest growing search topic among the nine need states evaluated, with searches for digestive health having increased by an average of 28% per year since 2019 and now receiving 138,000 searches per month globally.

When it comes to flavour preferences 32% of consumers said they were interested in ginger flavoured digestive products and 31% in mango. However, these two flavours accounted for only 9% and 4% of gut health product launches respectively, indicating a clear opportunity for new product development.

Unsurprisingly, search interest in immunity has closely followed reported Covid-19 outbreaks, however, even without these spikes, interest in immunity has remained at a consistently higher baseline than pre-Covid times. Immunity boosting products are in fact the most purchased globally compared to other functional products, with 33% of consumers using them, according to Innova.

Synergy found that 54% of consumers said they preferred citrus flavours for immunity products, with lemon the most popular (40%). Orange and lemon account for a quarter of all immunity launches, whereas lime is also an appealing flavour (with 32% of consumers showing interest in it), but only accounts for 4% of launches, making it a good choice for new product development in immunity.

With this insight, Synergy has developed a number of new product concepts with functional ingredients, including:

• A mango and ginger flavoured beverage that contains prebiotic fibres and contributes to the normal function of gut enzymes.

• A lime and cherry flavoured beverage with an immunity blend that contributes to the normal function of the immune system.

Flavouring functional foods

As consumers continue to seek out products that both meet their specific health and wellness needs and taste great, opportunities for innovation abound. Flavour plays a critical role in consumer acceptance and enjoyment of foods and beverages. Working closely with flavour experts, such as Synergy Flavours, enables manufacturers to create stand-out functional products that command a premium and deliver what consumers want.

To find out more detail about the research findings and how Synergy Flavours works with customers to develop flavours for functional products, visit the website: Find Your Flow - Nutrition (synergytaste.com).

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